SO Rupaul’s drag race (the best show in the history of TV, to be honest) was in full swing this year, with All Stars Three airing in late January, and season ten just coming to a close.
The concept? Fourteen drag Queens are pitted against each other in tumultuous tasks that test their tenacity. From playing the late and great Divine, creating costumes on a dime, impersonating celebrities, diving in a tank for a quick photo, right through to strutting it down the runway, the show is a crazy combination of America’s next top model and Project Runway, but on acid. And don’t be fooled by the makeup. The girls frequently cry it off, with heart-wrenching conversations in the work room about the many struggles they have faced (many have seen mistreatment, with some still in the closet). It’s surprisingly heartwarming to watch, and has the world firmly in its progressive grasp – Thailand even has its own version airing soon.
After ten seasons, (and three All Star series) the thriving show has introduced us to a multitude of extravagant and extraordinary performers: Chad Michaels, Alaska, Shangela, Katya, Trixie, Shea Coulee, Milk, are just a few. And now we’ve been given the opportunity to talk to one of its newest stars. Enter Yuhua Hamasaki.
“How are you after drag race?” I ask the show’s latest alumni. As it turns out, the Queen best known for her Ankh (don’t worry, details later) and being too pretty to pull off ugly, is currently living it up in a hotel in Hawaii. Lucky. “I feel fantastic!!!” she says, “It was a lot of hard work, sweat, blood, tears, but in the end it is very rewarding! Without Drag Race, I would still be in my tiny NYC apartment, feeling claustrophobic haha.”
“I should have been a b*tch,”
Yuhua has made a pretty considerable impact among fans, although her time in the competition was short-lived. From her perfectly sewn entrance look (she’s a seamstress, you know), hilarious mini challenge strut and caution tape extravaganza, she looked like she was on to a winner. But then episode three happened. Disaster struck- its name was Madame Butterface.
The challenge was to create an app called Missbuttrface, and look as ugly as possible. Simple right? Not when you fight with your teammates.
“Next time, I’m snatching those prosthetic noses away from Aquaria! Haha,”
“We did have some differences in opinions, which clashed,” the Queen explained. “I listened to my teammate’s suggestions, needs, and wants, which was to not use the prosthetic facial features that were provided for us to make ourselves uglier, to match the challenge. I became a team player. I should have been a bitch and said ‘No, I am going to do me because I want to stand out as well and I want to stay in this competition.’ Next time, I’m snatching those prosthetic noses away from Aquaria! Haha.”
But Yuhua has no hard feelings for her teammates. “We are all sisters. We fight and argue like your aunts and uncles do, but in the end we hug it out as if nothing happened. I have no regrets because I made the decision to listen to them, and I messed it up.”
One of the staples of this Asian Queen’s performance on season ten were the looks she turned out. The funny Queen has been compared to the likes of season six winner Bianca del Rio because of her fabulous make-up and sewing ability. And her best creation on the runway has to be the infamous caution tape dress and… (in Michelle’s words) the “Ankh Ankh” headpiece. “The caution tape was made in the thought of, “What would RuPaul wear?” And I see her wearing something long and flowy with a lot of movement which was what I did with the dress,” she tells me when I ask about that gorgeous dress.
But what was that Ankh headpiece about? “I was thinking a teletubby with the antennas on their head. At first it was just a circle, then I decided to add a bow at the bottom because I thought it looked too boring. Soon enough, the judges were saying “Ankh ankh!!!” as I was walking down the runway because I had an ankh on my head, and I didn’t even know what an ankh was! Haha.” So that’s where it came from.
“I’m not supposed to give away spoilers, but since you’ve been so kind, I will tell you one. You ready? Here it is……..”
It’s a shame about the Missbuttrface challenge, because I would have loved to see what other looks she could bring to the runway. But while we’re on the topic of challenges, what’s the best main challenge on drag race – the one that everybody desperately waits for? Snatchgame of course! I mean, what’s more fun than dressing up as your favourite celebrity and playing out some crazy questions on a crazy game show. And although she just missed it, Yuhua had some killer picks lined up.
“I brought Jackie Chan as an option, and also Christina Aguilera! She was my childhood idol!!!! So when I saw her in the premiere week, I was gasping for air!!!!”
Wait, Jackie Chan? “Boy drag”? Ah man, now that would have been amazing.
She also tells me of another task she would have killed. “If there was a roasting challenge, I would totally slay it! I love comedy, especially going in on someone intellectually but in a fun, loving, sassy, and comedic way. I would have burned that house down!”
It’s a shame we missed that too, but all is not lost, because we could see her again on our TV screens in the near future.
Hello All Stars Four. “I would totally do it!!” she tells me when I asked if she’d be up for All Stars. “Opportunities come and you should always be not scared to walk through those doors. I mean if they want me to go back and jump in a pool of fire, I would still do it!!” there you go, World of Wonder. If you’re looking for a contestant for next year’s series, she’s your gal.
Actually, All Stars isn’t the only series we could have seen her on. As it turns out, Yuhua also tried out for a place on earlier seasons of the show. But we’re glad she got this one because “In previous audition tapes, I wasn’t myself. I was trying to give them in audition tapes of what I think they would want me to be like so that I can fit into the Drag Race family. But the truth is, being yourself is so easy and so much more fun and they saw that in my Season 10 audition.”
“That’s the great thing about the LGBT+ communities, everyone is so diverse that people just accept who you are”
Naturally, as a fan of the show I was desperate for some behind the scenes spoilers. And luckily, the Queen had one up her sleeve to share with me.
“I’m not supposed to give away spoilers, but since you’ve been so kind, I will tell you one. You ready? Here it is……… WE ARE ALL NOT REAL WOMEN!!!!!”
Sorry, looks like there’s no spoilers for us! Well, she’s not wrong though. Not all of the contestants are real women, but not all of them are men either. Yuhua herself is Gender neutral, and with Drag race’s hosts’ comments about transgender Queens on the show recently, and the rise in non binary Queens, I was curious to hear about Yuhau’s experiences in the drag communities.
“Not at all!” she replies when I ask if she’d faced any difficulties. “That’s the great thing about the LGBT+ communities, nobody cares what your sexual orientation or your gender identity is, everyone is so diverse, people just accept who you are. People within the LGBT+ communities were all victims of being bullied and not fitting in, that they have become in a way that they do give difficulties to others that are different from who they. They treat others the way they want to be treated, which is with respect.”
Since her run on Drag race though, Yuhua hasn’t stopped slaying. The Asian Queen is even venturing into the world of music, with her latest song released earlier this year.
So what can we expect from her music career? “The music video is inspired by children’s music videos, sort of like Sesame Street. In the video, I’m telling the children viewers to get an ankh. The ankh symbolises life and power, and the music video sorts of pokes fun of infomercials telling people to buy things and at the same time, it’s trying to brainwash people at such a young age to grow up to following trends, even though there’s a crazy lady, which is me, telling them all these things. The allegory is that the media plays a big role in controlling the views of the public, that it sets trends, it controls peoples point of views, and it manipulate people’s minds at such a young age to think certain things, such as not accepting the LGBT+ communities.”
That sounds pretty crazy and I don’t know about you but I’m dying to hear the music that would go along with that video. “It is catchy and there are some phrases in the lyrics that a lot of Drag Race viewers would be familiar with.”
Well, I for one can’t wait for that song to come out. And one thing is true, despite her short run on Drag race, Yuhua gonna remember this Queen.